


I've Got You To Help Me Forgive

by john_paul_george_ringo



Category: Queen (Band)
Genre: 1974, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cuddling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:42:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29777019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/john_paul_george_ringo/pseuds/john_paul_george_ringo
Summary: During October 1974, John finally takes Veronica to his hometown of Oadby. While they're there, Ronnie uncovers John's secret as she prepares to tell him hers.
Relationships: John Deacon/Veronica Tetzlaff
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	I've Got You To Help Me Forgive

"You've made a wrong turn, I'm telling you!"

"How could I have made a wrong turn? I know how to drive to my own childhood home!"

John Deacon was not really one for conflict, neither was his girlfriend Veronica, yet they found themselves arguing on their journey to John's hometown of Oadby, having stopped down some side street.

"John, I'm literally sat here, reading the map! We need to be on this road," she points at the map with some force, "and we're all the way over here!" Her finger moves right across the map, looking at him smugly. She liked being right.

"Oh, God! We're not going to get there for ages!" John groans despairingly, resting his head and hands on the steering wheel.

Ronnie sighs. She might as well apologize if it looks like they're going to be trapped in the car for much longer than expected.

"Sorry, John. I know you're stressed and tired," she rubs her hand on his back gently, "I can take over driving if you'd like. Or there's that coffee shop right across the road. We can have a break."

"Yeah, I'll go for the coffee." He smiles weakly at her.

\--------

Hand in hand, the couple stroll into the cafe, purchasing a Cappuccino for John, decaffeinated coffee for Ronnie, and a slice of cake to share. They sat in rather awkward silence, for a couple who had been together for three years.

"John, what's wrong?" Ronnie asks quietly, putting his hand in hers, looking at him seriously from across the table.

"I guess..." he begins, locking eyes with her. Veronica looks expectingly at him, "I guess I'm nervous to share this part of my life with you. Y'know when you met my mum for the first time, I couldn't sleep the night before. I was terrified that she wouldn't like you or vice versa."

"But it went great, John, and there was nothing to worry about. I'll love all of the things that you love." Ronnie's thumb strokes his hand, as she smiles sympathetically.

"I know that, but Oadby is a part of my life I was glad to leave behind, in a way."

"What do you mean?"

"I- I'm nervous because the part of my life that I left behind is the part I haven't really shared with you..." he takes another sip of coffee, taking his hand from hers.

"Is this about your father, John?" As soon as the words came out of her mouth, Ronnie saw John's entire body language change. That meant yes.

"Maybe I'm nervous 'cause I feel as though I've forgotten how life used to be... or that you'll hate me for not telling you about all of the things that happened. I know I barely speak about my childhood and that." John appears ashamed.

"That's alright," she smiles, "You're allowed to have things that you don't want to tell me or don't feel that you can. I'm just happy that you can talk about it, and show emotion in front of me." John grabs a hold of her hand again "and I have my fair share of secrets that I've never told you," Ronnie takes a sip of coffee, raising her eyebrows at him.

"Like what?" John asks his girlfriend, certainly feeling a whole lot better than he was before.

"That's for me to know and you to find out," she laughs as John groans sarcastically. He'd find out what her secret was soon enough. "Are you sure that you're alright? All jokes aside?"

"'Course I am," he grins, handing her a fork as they dig into their cake.

\--------

"Hold on!" Ronnie giggled, running round to the driver's side of the car, which John was about to get into. She wraps herself around John, as he places his arms around her waist in a tight embrace.

"Are you sure that you're okay?" She asks pulling away, her arms around his neck, as she looks at him seriously.

"I am, don't worry," John replies with a small smile, kissing her forehead. He liked that she cared.

\---------

John had found that road trips with Ronnie were something to be cherished. They had traveled many times to Sheffield - Ronnie's hometown - and he'd discovered how much he loved it. Veronica would arrive on John's doorstep, fully prepared with snacks, drinks, blankets, and maps. John brought the car, the tapes, and existential questions during the journey. It was strange that they'd never visited John's hometown together. They spent most holidays apart with their families, with hurried phone calls to each other between celebrations. Their schedules never seemed to align, but John always insisted on taking Ronnie to Sheffield.

John may have subconsciously made plans to go home when he knew Veronica was busy. He felt that his life in Oadby was very distant from his life in London. But this time, John's own mother had begged that Veronica came to visit, and no matter how old he was - he could never argue with his mother.

Ronnie flipped through the radio stations, happily, only stopping when she found a song that she knew. The song in question was John's band's most recent single - which had become a minor hit.

"Ugh, not this song again!" John groans, sarcastically, but is secretly smiling - he loves how much Veronica loves Queen. They've played it on this journey alone, at least 7 times. And each time, Ronnie would turn the volume up as loud as it would go, and sing the lyrics at the top of her lungs. This time was no different.

"I can't believe that's you playing the bass!" She shouts over the guitar solo, dancing to the tune.

"Is that a good thing?" He asks, laughing at her moves.

"Very good! It's crazy, y'know. You're all famous and successful, playing to all these people on the stage and now you're here, sat driving me around!" She giggles, before sitting up to scream out the lyrics again.

Funnily enough, no matter how poorly Veronica sang, she'd always be better than her boyfriend - or that's what John had said. He liked to hear her sing, whether it was screaming along to one of her favorite songs, or holding John in her embrace, quietly singing a love song into his ear as she ran her fingers through his long, waving hair.

"I think you're almost as good as Freddie after that performance, love!" He grins a toothy grin, his eyes focused on the road.

"Oh, you're too kind!" She says in a posh, overly British-sounding voice, while over dramatically swooning, before erupting in fits of giggles.

"Welcome to Oadby, Ron!" John nods towards a sign out the window with the same message.

"So this is where the famous John Deacon grew up?" She raises her eyebrows at him, as she excitedly looks out the window.

"That's the church hall, where we did most of our gigs," John points out a large building.

"Is that the roundabout that you crashed your bike into?" Ronnie points out of the window, laughing at John's embarrassed look.

"No comment," he grumbles with false annoyance.

John turns the car down a long suburban road, nostalgia hitting him in the same way that the roundabout hit him on his bike all those years ago.

"There it is!" He grins, "home."

\---------

John's sister and mother practically ambushed them within seconds of their arrival, offering to carry bags, asking about their journey. Julie, John's sister, had taken a particular liking for Veronica, as they had a shared joy of pranking John. He'd always jump up and scare them, and they'd always find a way to get him back. Their proudest pranking moment was putting salt in his cup of tea instead of sugar.

John pretended to be annoyed, but he secretly loved that the two got on so well. He'd had fears that they wouldn't. His mum loved Ronnie too. John had always suspected that it was due to Ronnie's Christian beliefs and modesty when it came to clothing or make-up. John hoped that his mother saw Veronica's kindness above all else.

"Veronica!" She's embraced by a beaming Lilian.

"Mrs. Deacon, it's so wonderful to see you again," Veronica grins politely.

"You don't have to call me that! Call me Lilian!" John had always told his girlfriend that his mother was strict and firm, but it seemed she was only this way to her children. Ronnie often forgot this and tended to call Lilian Mrs. Deacon out of politeness.

"Right! Yes, you told me that last time!" Veronica pulls away from the hug, "well thank you very much for welcoming me to your home!" She says with a smile.

"It's my pleasure!" Lilian says, before walking up to her son and hugs him.

"Such a polite girl," she whispers into John's ear, as Ronnie and Julie catch up.

Soon enough, John, Julie, Lilian, and Veronica are sat around the kitchen table, discussing all of the places that they need to show Ronnie.

"And of course, you'll have to go down to the cafe! They have the most delicious cake!" Lilian continues.

"Oh yes! Cake sounds lovely!" Ronnie says with a laugh. John slips his hand under the table to hold Ronnie's. She looks up at him, then his hand in hers, and then smiles.

Moments later, Julie leads the couple up the stairs as Lilian prepares them all some dinner.

"Mum's put you in with me, Ronnie," Julie says, guiding Veronica to her room, "I hope that's alright."

"Of course that's fine!" Ronnie reassures the teenager, although she is slightly annoyed that she can't share a bed with John. They're at a point in their relationship where they don't just sleep in the same bed but sleep together. Of course, neither John nor Ronnie's families knew, and of course, they weren't planning on doing anything here - John's mum would pass out if she walked in on them - yet the young couple had found out that it just sleeping in the same bed brought them both so much comfort and stability, which was something they needed after a busy and long day and today had been just that.

But there was no way that John could casually have Ronnie sleeping in his room without his mother scolding him.

He walks into his childhood bedroom and is somewhat comforted by how it still smelled the same and remained the same way as he'd left it when he came back home for Christmas last year. His creaky old twin bed felt the same, as he sat on it and admired the posters a sixteen-year-old him had put up many years ago.

"John?" He hears Ronnie's voice softly filtering through the gaps in the closed door.

"Yeah?" He responds as she opens the door, clutching some of John's clothes.

"I was unpacking and I've got some of your things mixed in with some of mine... Woah." She says, as her eyes dart around his room. This was a side of John she'd never met, a side of him that he'd never let her meet.

The walls were covered in posters of bands and musicians to the point that you could barely see the wallpaper underneath, his desk was filled with his old university papers, and in the corner of the room was an old guitar.

"So this is where you grew up?" She laughs, perching next to him on the bed.

"Guess so. I'm sort of excited to show you around now that you're here. You can meet the Opposition, and I can show you where we used to play." His eyes lit up as he spoke, a small smile raising on his lips.

"I can't wait, John."

\----------

"Here's where I used to play out with my friends," John points out to an intrigued Veronica the next morning. He'd decided to take her out for a walk and show her around town. "I used to play hide and seek and one time I climbed up that tree and couldn't get down!"

"I can picture that perfectly!" Veronica snorts at the thought of him stuck in a tree like some cat.

"Hey! It was terrifying at the time!" He links arms with her and walks her onwards.

"I thought you couldn't remember your childhood," Ronnie points out, though she's nervous to even touch on the subject.

"Well, I can't really. There are parts that I can and others that I can't. I don't really like to think back anyway. All the stuff I do know is based on photos or what other people have told me I guess..." John's explanation leads his mind back to the few memories he does have before his teenage years: building a snowman with his family, going trainspotting with his father, watching his beloved dad being taken to the hospital, learning that he'd passed, the funeral.

"John?" Ronnie stares worriedly into his eyes, "John!"

"What?" His mind snaps back into the present day.

"I thought I lost you for a minute there!" She exclaims, relieved.

"No, no. I was just thinking." John links his arms with her and carries on walking as if nothing had happened.

Ronnie never exactly knew what was going on in his head. He could be completely unpredictable and crazy one minute, and the next be calm and grounded.

Their walk continued, John pointing out all of the places he used to visit with his friends and the people that he used to know. They were now strolling quietly down the high street together, hand in hand.

John's eyes widen before shoving his girlfriend into an alleyway and then follows her straight after, with fear in his eyes.

"Ah, John what was that for?" She asks in annoyance, shocked at him.

John clamps his hand over her mouth and whispers, "there's a girl who's about to walk past. Her name's Sarah Smith. The girl I had my first kiss with!"

Ronnie stifles a laugh, before removing his hand from over her mouth.

"And that's an issue, why?" She says, giving him a quizzical look.

"Because! It's just weird!" He exclaims, turning the brightest shade of red.

"Y'know what else is just weird?" She laughs, "pinning a girl up against the wall of an alleyway!"

"Oh shit yeah," he lets go of her, a look of embarrassment taking over his face. "Sorry."

"It's fine," she takes hold of his hand, and practically drags him onto the road. He shares an awkward glance with Sarah Smith and walks on.

Veronica looks back at her, "what even happened between you two?"

"Hm?" John replies, looking into all of the shop windows to distract himself from the embarrassment.

"Between you and this Sarah Smith girl," she repeats herself, "tell me the story."

"Well, there's not much of a story to tell. I knew her from school, and we were at a gig, and she came up to me and told me she liked me," John explains, "so we started going out and then she kissed me one night, and broke up with me after about a day or so because all of my attention was with the band."

"Ah, did you love her?"

"What? I was thirteen! Of course, I didn't love her! You're jealous, aren't you?" His mouth curves into a grin.

"No! I'm not! I just-"

"You just what? Who was your first kiss then?"

"You." She mumbles, embarrassed.

"Me?" John was shocked. Ronnie was in her twenties when he'd met John and he was her first time for everything.

"Well yes," she sighed, "it's not as though I had many opportunities to have a first kiss growing up. I went to an all-girls school and I didn't know any boys apart from family."

"Oh," he squeezes her hand, "that's nothing to feel ashamed of. It spares you from moments like this."

"Um, excuse me?" John and Veronica broke their conversation as their eyes fell upon the sight of a teenage boy, clutching a copy of Queen II in his sweating hand.

"C-can I have your signature?" The boy stared at John as though he was a God.

"Uh sure, have you got a pen?"

John despised being noticed, being treated like a celebrity. In his mind, he was nothing more than the bass player who blended into the background and enjoyed it that way.

"Oh no, I don't," the boy's eyes darted between John and Veronica, who rummaged through her handbag to locate a pen. Over the course of their relationship and John's career, she made sure that she had a pen handy for moments just like this.

The boy watched excitedly as a red-faced John signed the record, and handed it back to him. A string of awkward "thank you's" took place and the kid scurried off.

"I hate signing autographs," John grumbled, as their walk continued, "I don't even know why he came up to me! I blend in completely."

"John, honey, you're wearing a Queen hoodie," Ronnie pursed her lips, to avoid laughing.

"Shit."

\-------------

"And then this kid comes over and asked for a signature! Out of nowhere!" John explains to his old bandmate as they and their significant others sat around a table in the local pub, sharing drinks and stories.

"So I guess you're getting really popular now!" John's closest friend, Nigel, responds.

"He's missing out on the fact that he was wearing Queen merchandise the entire time!" Ronnie whispers to Nigel's girlfriend, Ruth. They'd all met a year or two ago. Nigel often traveled to London to visit family and for work, and tended to stop by and visit his old friend.

John smiles at his girlfriend from across the table as she chatted to Ruth.

"I'll get the next round of drinks," Ronnie stands up and heads towards the bar. John joins her.

"How do you like it?" He asks.

"Like what?" She replies, glancing at the bartender as he made their drinks, checking that hers was definitely non-alcoholic.

"Oadby? D-do you like it?"

"Yeah, I really do." She rubs his arm, reassuring him.

"I was thinking... Tomorrow... if you want I can take you to the Church 'cause it's a Sunday and all." John didn't believe in God, but he did believe in making his girlfriend happy and this was one way to keep the peace.

"That'll be nice, John."

John lay in his bed alone. It was a twin-sized bed - it could only really fit one person - but it felt empty even with him in it. Veronica was beginning to uncover a part of his life which he was terrified to relive. She'd been acting strangely for a while now - going the toilet far more often than usual, having what she said was travel sickness when she hadn't ever had that problem, and eating almost all of the cake they purchased in the coffee shop earlier that day.

John's mind normally led him down obscure paths, giving him strange and sometimes stressful thoughts that made him unable to sleep. Since Ronnie had been practically living with him earlier this year, she had found a way to bring him back to reality. This time she wasn't there.

As he lay in his cold bed, his mind brought him back to the things he'd experienced in this house. The arguments, the laughter, the tears. His restless slumber guided him through the most painful experiences of his life and the places they occurred, just as he had guided Ronnie through the small town.

\--------

Although he'd offered to take her to the church, John had decided to wander around the graveyard instead of going inside. He was still shaken by his nightmares. And anyway, he quite enjoyed reading all of the people's names, imagining what lives they led. John didn't enjoy death though, and the thought of anyone he loved being in pain was unbearable. It was bad enough when Queen's guitarist, Brian, had been in the hospital with Hepatitis. John himself felt just as ill, his mind taking him to dark places, thinking about what life might be if something really bad were to happen to him.

John didn't think he would cope when Veronica would eventually have his future children. He'd heard that giving birth was an excruciating experience - and judging by how painful Ronnie said her period cramps were, labor seemed unimaginable. He'd also been living in fear at the prospect of having a child without the guidance of his own father. That obviously wasn't a thing to worry about now - they weren't planning on kids for ages. Marriage would come way before children and even that was a long time away in a long time.

He weaved in and out of the gravestones, tiptoeing over the uneven grass as he feared the dead bodies would reach out and grab him. His pulse raised as he approached the very corner of the graveyard, and stopped in his tracks when he read the gravestone.

'Here lies Arthur Henry Deacon'

John stared at it and slowly slid down onto to grass, heart pumping out of his chest. He traced the 'Deacon' on the gravestone, as a single tear ran down his cheek. This is why John avoided hospitals and illness. This is the reason he's quiet and reserved. This is the one gravestone in the entire cemetery that he already knows the story of.

"John! There you are!" Veronica walks around the stones, approaching him, immediately sensing that something was wrong. Quietly, she knelt next to him, reading the gravestone and whispering an "oh."

More tears stream down his cheeks uncontrollably as he lets out a sob. Ronnie doesn't know how to react to this. All she can do is put her arm around him, rubbing her hand up and down in his back. He leans into her shoulder, smelling her familiar perfume, as he breaks down, soaking the shoulder of her dress. Ronnie's arm moves to his hair, stroking it. All she wanted to do was take his pain away, to make him happy, but she knows that there's nothing to do except be there for him, let him know that she's there for him.

He only cries harder as she whispers words of support in his ear, and sings songs to him, letting out all of the pain that had built up over so many years.

Soon, his cries die down, and they sit in silence listening to the birds chirp in the trees.

"He always used to take me fishing and trainspotting when I was younger." He whispers eventually, "and he was the reason I did electronics."

Veronica gently kisses his temple and moves his hair out of his tear-stained face.

"I always feel so guilty because I didn't choose the career he wanted me to..."

"I'm sure all he would have wanted was for you to be happy... Music makes you happy, love," Ronnie points out.

"But the stupid thing is that I don't remember him," he shifts his position, "I feel like I'm going to get sick and die as he did. I'm so scared that our eventual children will grow up..." his lip quivers, "and not have a father..."

"Oh, John!" Veronica's eyes fill with tears as she moves to hold him close to her, unable to make things better, but wanting to make it that way. She wished that if she hugged him tight enough, she could remove all of his pain.

"I won't let that happen." She whispers, looking deeply and seriously into his grey eyes, "You just have to live each day to the full and appreciate everything that happens - good and bad. You have you value what you have and not what you don't or could have. And believe me, there are so many important things for you to value right now." Out of habit, her hand rests on her almost flat stomach, before she removes it in the fear that John will notice.

She would tell him about the baby eventually, but not now, not during this trip. Everything in their lives had been working out perfectly and she didn't want to be the one to ruin it. She just wanted one last good memory with John before whatever awful things may happen in the future would go and ruin it.

"Yeah." He nods, sniffing as he wipes his eyes. "You always know the right thing to say."

"Can I take you into the church?" She asks.

\-----------

John felt uneasy as Ronnie led him into the church. The last time he'd been there was his father's funeral. He'd avoided that specific church ever since.

Ronnie guided him to the back wall of the church which had a small altar filled with lit tea lights.

"Ever since my grandfather died, I light a candle for him every Sunday." She explains, demonstrating by taking a candle and lighting it, carefully placing it on the altar.

"I know you don't exactly believe in all of this, but maybe it will keep his memory alive." She whispers, "and every time I go to church I'll light him a candle too."

John starts to tear up as he shakily grabs a candle and lights it.

"Hey," Veronica soothes him by rubbing his arm and kissing his cheek.

"Sorry," he mumbles.

"It's alright, love." She takes hold of his hand and walks him out of the church.

"I don't want you to think I'm weird..." John whispers.

"Why would I think you're weird?" Ronnie chuckles, stopping in the middle of the path to focus her attention fully on him.

"Cause... it's not normal for a man to cry... I don't want you thinking I'm overly emotional or anything..." he stuffs his hands in his pockets.

"John..." she sighs, "I love you the way that you are. I love that you're different and can show emotion. I think that showing emotion is really brave."

"But... Don't you think I'm too... feminine?"

"First of all, your hair is longer than mine and you wear more makeup on stage than I have in my entire life," Ronnie explains. "But second of all," her face softens as he steps closer to him, "I don't mind. I love that your different and original. I think it's pretty sexy..." she blushes.

John turns a bright shade of scarlet and snorts. "Come on!" He laughs, taking her by the hand as they walk back to John's home.

He seemed to be a lot happier now, to Veronica's relief. As he walked her home for dinner, telling her some crazy story from his teenage years, she almost forgot how less than an hour ago, he was crying in her arms, filled with immense pain. Maybe John was always in pain, scarred deeply by his father's death, but he masked it and hid it from the world in the fear that he'd become uncontrollable.

Ronnie seemed to balance out his pain and fears. She was his rock, and sometimes the only reason that he got out of bed in the morning.

Although John was slightly better than before, Veronica still felt guilty giving him a kiss goodnight before leaving him to lie in his bed alone. Lying in her bed at about midnight, she couldn't sleep. The creeks of the floorboards sounded like his wails, the silence of the night felt deafening.

Ronnie gave up. Checking that Julie was definitely asleep, Veronica tiptoed out of the room, cringing as a particularly loud floorboard creaked and echoed around the house. The door to John's room was closed, but not shut so that the smallest amount of light seeped through, into his room. He couldn't stand complete darkness.

She watched his sleeping form, facing the wall, lying on his side, allowing some room for her to slip into bed next to him. As she did this, Ronnie slipped next to her boyfriend, spooning him with one hand resting on the pillow, playing with John's hair, and the other slithered around his chest to hold her hand in his.

Ronnie exhaled, relieved that she wasn't caught, and finally relaxed now that she was next to her best friend. John squeezed Ronnie's hand and brings it up to his lips to kiss it.

"We're gonna get in trouble if my mother finds you in my bed tomorrow morning." The bassist remarked.

"You mean you're going to get in trouble." Ronnie stated, "she seems to love me!" She adds with a soft laugh.

"I need to look at you..." John muttered, rotating his body so he now faced her. She greeted him with a smile.

"You're amazing," John whispers, kissing her forehead, "and beautiful," he adds, kissing her cheek, "and kind," he kisses her nose. She laughs as he crawls on top of her, continuing with the praise as he kissed her neck and eventually her lips. They both melt into the kiss, Veronica running her fingers through his hair, John's arms weaving around her neck.

"Johnny!" She giggles, pulling away. "You know we can't go any further." She adds with a whisper.

He rolls over with a sigh. "I know."

"And I promise you, as soon as we get back to London we can continue this," Ronnie says, snuggling into John's armpit as he caresses her hair.

"Of course, love. Can I ask," he looks up at the ceiling, as Ronnie shuffles to look at his face.

"Why are you here? In my bed?" John laughs.

"Well," she replies, laying back, "I felt lonely and I just knew you probably felt the same. And after all that happened today, I didn't want you to feel isolated or upset."

He holds her tighter. "That means a lot to me."

"I know you love being alone with your thoughts, but I know you don't like to be lonely."

"I'm never lonely with you..." he kisses her once more. "And you're right. The only thing I want right now is to be completely alone - with you."

"You are so cheesy!" She laughs, though she's feeling the same way. But there is a third person there - John just doesn't know that yet.

"Good night, honey, I love you." She adds.

"Love you too."

\----

Veronica tended to wake up very early. Even on a weekend, she'd find herself awake at six in the morning. This morning was not one of those days, John discovered when he woke up, surprised to find Ronnie still sound asleep in his bed.

She also was an extremely light sleeper, sometimes waking up when John sneezed in the night. So when he had lay in bed, dreamily admiring his girlfriend sleep (as he told himself in his head that it wasn't creepy to do so) he realized that he needed to go to the toilet and had to find a way to leave the bed without waking her.

He never liked to wake her up, even if she told him to. John always made the excuse that she looked too peaceful for him to wake her from her slumber which normally made her late for things, but she couldn't really stay too mad at him for being so sweet.

Like a praying mantis, John crawled over Ronnie - his long legs almost uncontrollable as he stopped to check she was still asleep. That was a mistake as he found himself on the floor as his arms had given in and made him fall out of bed with a small thud which didn't seem to wake her.

Now that he thought of it, Veronica had been sleeping a lot more recently and had been complaining that she was a lot more tired than usual. With this thought prominent in his head, John decided to tuck her into bed, give her a light kiss on the forehead and then rush off to the toilet.

Ronnie slowly blinked her eyes open, sunlight peeking through John's curtains. She rolled over with a yawn, surprised to not find John sound asleep in bed. As she sat up squinting at the clock, she realized it wasn't the usual six in the morning - it was eight. Surely John's mother would awake and burst into his room and he'd get the blame.

Her only option was to jump out of bed, ignoring the sudden need to pee, and sneak back into Julie's bedroom.

However, as she left John's room, she realized it was too late. Julie was lent on the closed bathroom door, shouting at John to hurry up.

"You've been in there for ten minutes!" She groans, but her expression changes when Ronnie appeared from John's room.

"Shhh!" Ronnie puts her finger over her mouth as she tiptoes cautiously towards the confused-looking teenager. "You didn't see me." Ronnie whispers, "Where's your mum?"

"I saw you weren't there when I woke up this morning," Julie replies, but seeing the worried expression on Veronica's face she continues, "I assumed you were with John and I was right, but I told Mum that you were sleeping so there's no need to worry."

"Thank you so much! You're an angel!" Ronnie sighs.

"Just- You weren't... Y'know..." Julie gives Veronica a knowing look.

"No! Oh no!" Ronnie exclaims loudly, heat rushing to her cheeks.

"Okay, John it's been like half an hour!" Julie shouts to her brother through the closed door, giving Veronica the opportunity to slip back into her room and get dressed.

\----

As it was their last day in Oadby as John had to prepare for Queen's gig at the Rainbow Theatre, they all spent the day together going to the coffee shop, trying cake, and of course, going home in the afternoon so Lilian could show embarrassing photos from John's childhood.

"Aw! I don't think I've ever seen John's baby photos!" Ronnie giggles to Lilian as she carefully flips through the precious family photo album.

"There's a reason for that, Veronica." Lilian explains, "I always found John a very ugly baby."

"Mum!" John exclaims, very offended.

"All I'm saying is that when you two eventually have children, I hope Veronica has the prominent genes!" Lilian adds.

They'd find that out sooner than expected, Veronica thought.

Julie snorts out her mouthful of tea and almost dies of laughter.

"Oh shut up!" John rolls his eyes at his sister, don't you have some homework to do?"

Veronica turns to the page featuring an image of John's father. Their likeness was uncanny.

"Right, I'm going to the pub with Nigel, and then we'll be going." John says, putting on his fashionably impractical coat.

"On a Monday night?" Julie asks.

"Yes," John grabs his keys, "some of us don't have school tomorrow."

Julie sticks her tongue out at her brother as he does the same.

"Will you two stop acting like infants please?" Their mother gives them a death stare. It was now Ronnie's opportunity to snort out her tea.

"Aren't you driving though?" His mother asks worriedly, as she licks her thumb and wipes her son's cheek.

"Ugh! Mum!" He groans, grabbing her wrist with a look of disgust. Both Ronnie and Julie laughed that time.

"I'll only be gone like an hour. We're only having one drink." He explains as his mother kisses him goodbye.

"One for me too please!" His sister pickers her lips dramatically.

"No." John laughs, approaching Ronnie for a quick peck on the cheek.

"John, let your sister kiss you goodbye." Lilian groans.

"I'm going!" He shouts, making his way to the front door with haste as Julie runs after him with her arms outstretched.

"I am so sorry for my ridiculous children, Veronica. I'm sure your family aren't as loud and annoying!" Lilian apologies, pouring another cup of tea.

"Oh no, we're just as bad!" Veronica grins politely.

\---

"I thought you were a very cute baby." Ronnie smiles as she and John pack up their luggage together. "I hope our one's similar."

"You didn't see that picture of me in the bath did you?" He replies, folding one of her dresses carefully and placing them in the suitcase, not really taking in her comment.

"I might have... Your mum showed me after you left."

John groans at that, dramatically laying on the floor.

"Y'know when you become even more famous and successful than you are now, I can use that picture as blackmail - I'll get Julie to send it to me!" Ronnie jokes but John glares at her with a hint of sarcasm in his eyes.

"Funny you should say that," John replies, crossing his legs, "Someone put Killer Queen on the Jukebox and Nigel decided that it would be a great opportunity to tell everyone that I was the bassist!"

Veronica rolls on the floor in fits of giggles, "And you hate fan interactions too! Did they ask for signatures?"

"Yeah," John grumbles, "the queue was out the door..."

\---

"I don't want you to go!" Julie whines, hugging Veronica on the pavement outside the house.

"I'll be back for Christmas, though!" John replies cheerfully.

"I wasn't talking to you, idiot! I was talking to Ronnie!" Julie sticks out her tongue.

"I promise to visit in the new year," Veronica grins, as they pull away from the hug.

"Drive safe. If you feel tired, take a rest. If you actually did have more than one drink, then get Veronica to take over the driving." Lilian instructs John, using her fingers to aid in her listing of possible hazards.

"I'm fine! You forget I'm an adult sometimes!" He rolls his eyes.

Lilian pulls her son in for a tight hug as she whispers in his ear, "I know that, but to me, you're always going to be my little boy."

John and Veronica said their final goodbyes and drive off into the night.

"Remember on the first day, when we talked about secrets?" John asks, eyes focused on the road.

"Hm, yes." Veronica says, flicking through the radio stations.

"Well, I showed you all of mine. So I want to know what your secrets are."

"Let me think about that for a minute..." she leans back against the seat in concentration. There was a big secret that she had. A life-altering secret was inside her belly, which could possibly ruin everything. This weekend had already been traumatic enough without the announcement of a surprise pregnancy, and now was definitely not the time to tell him especially while he was driving.

"Nope... Nothing comes to mind." Veronica chuckles, though her hand gently grazes her belly as she switches the radio station. Killer Queen begins to play aloud, but she doesn't turn the volume up or sing along.

"Are you going to..?" He gestures at the radio.

"No... I'm too tired." She whispers with a yawn.

They sit in awkward silence for the first few lines of the song before John gives up, cranks up the volume, and screams along to Freddie as his voice echoes around the car.

"Oh, screw it!" Veronica yells, before joining in.

Veronica's big secret may alter their relationship completely and so now, before she broke the news to her beloved boyfriend, she might as well enjoy every single moment.

Their lives would soon be turned upside down, but it's about time that the universe throws another challenge their way. But life would be boring otherwise.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I've been writing this fic ever since Johnica Week. It's also been an idea that's been floating around my head for quite a while and it took me so long to write and post so I could do some research and capture John's emotions right. I really enjoyed writing for Julie and Lilian as well as their whole family dynamic and how Veronica interacts with them. 
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading!


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